Umineko No Naku Koro Ni Hera
by Shadow-Catcher
Summary: Ange has finally decided to take action in taking her life and succeeds. But wakes up to seeing a witch called "Hera" giving a chance to Ange to see what could have happened if her family would've survived the Rokkenjima massacre.
1. Death

Ange stood at the edge of the cliff, staring down as if staring at death itself. She lost count on how many times she has tried to kill herself in many ways, just to reunite with her brother. She's sick and tired of her aunt, Eva, her school, even herself. She just can't find a reason to be alive anymore.

She felt the cold fall breeze blow onto her body. She smelled and felt the air, imagining that it's her brother, who was trying to explain that she misses him. She couldn't help, but smile at the thought. Figuring that it's hard to believe, a small warm tear ran down her cheek. Why weren't neither of you there to support me? She thought, while she stared at the moon, which was glistering with yellow light today. She grasped her fist with anger and shouted at the moon.

'Why weren't you there to love me!' She knew she was being stubborn and childish, but she couldn't control her emotions anymore. Neither could she control her actions. But living without anyone to be there for her for 14 years was just too much for her to hold. Even though Eva survived the Rokkenjima massacre, she was feeling too much pain to show love to Ange. She was too hurt due to the loss of her husband and only son. Ange could see her pain and feel her pain, but never could she comfort her. But still, shouting at the moon wouldn't bring her family back. Nothing will. She closed her eyes and was ready to jump off the Mount. Fuji with only one thought in her head 'I'm coming home'.

Ange then pushed herself forward, so she could fall down the cliff. She felt her body weight pull her towards the ground. On her way down, she opened her eyes to look at the edge, where she jumped off. Her eyes widened, when she saw a figure of her brother smiling and waving.

'Battler.. onii-chan..' these last words slipped from her lips as she smiled. Though the figure might have been just an illusion or a mirage. That's all she wanted to see before she fell into her death..

* * *

Wondering what will happen next? Then wait for chapter 1, because this is getting even more exciting.

-Mari


	2. The Beginning of the Deal

Everything happened very quick. When Ange reached the ground, everything had already turned black. All the nerves and body-parts stopped responding at the same time. Now Ange was floating in a black room. She felt light like a feather and her mind was almost as clear as a cave. She no longer felt like she did few moments before trying to kill herself.

Then it hit her. Why isn't she dead yet? She should be dead since she left magic for good this time. Are the witches toying with her again? She wanted to feel anger, but couldn't. She tried to feel confusion, but couldn't. As if she was just an emotionless empty shell.

'Ushiromiya Ange, am I correct?' asked a mysterious voice, which echoed through the space.

'Yes..' Ange answered silently, looking everywhere to see, who is talking.

'I know how much pain you had dealt with and how much you have struggled to get your life back to normal. But, killing yourself in the end won't help anyone or anything, could you understand that?' explained the voice with confidence. Ange stayed silent.

'What if I could fix this, without you doing anything? I could bring your family back.' explained the voice. Ange was considering the idea. After seeing things such as demons, witches, demon goats, etc, she could actually believe that this voice could be speaking real magic. Besides, there was no lie in his or her voice.

'If I approve of your request, will there be a catch?' she asked. The voice was silent for a while before saying. 'The catch will be revealed through time. Only time will tell, when I have decided what to do with you.'

Ange continued looking through the room. Who is this mysterious voice? A witch? Maybe like Featherine?

'Before I accept, you must first explain, who are you and why am I here, when I should be dead?' she asked with much confidence as she could.

'I go by many names,' the voice started to explain. 'but I mostly go by the name of "Hera". You are here, because I have, out of many God's of earth, accepted your wishes to be with your family. And you are dead, Ushiromiya Ange. At that world, anyway. I have resurrected your soul into this room, so I can negotiate with you.'

Half of Ange couldn't trust this "Hera", but half of her said go with it no matter what. She was debating with herself.

'If I were to go by with it, how long will I be with my family? And what happens at the deadline?' She asked, 'cause she needed to be sure of what is she getting into.

'I will tell you in time. Now, choose – family or afterlife? This is only a one chance opportunity.'

Ange quickly started thinking. Family or afterlife? After the deadline she would probably brought to her afterlife and going straight to afterlife meant not having the chance to make her past life happy. Most of her leaned towards seeing her family one more time, smiling, having fun. Seeing herself not being scarred for life by the loss, but having fun with everyone.

'Have you chosen your path, Ushiromiya Ange?' Hera asked her one last time. Ange thought for a few seconds and nodded. She said clearly 'I, Ange Ushiromiya, have chosen to see my life without the Rokkenjima Massacre ever happening.'

'Very well. Wise choice, wise one.'

Ange suddenly felt herself fall and her eyelids getting weaker. Few seconds later, she was passed out.

'Ange! Ange!' she heard a voice calling out her name. She tried to open her eyes, but they were too tired to open completely. All she could see was blur, too much blur to see the person's face, who was calling out her name.

When she opened her eyes, she saw a guy she remembers as Willard H. Wright. She was confused as she stared at him. 'What are you doing here..?' she said weakly. Her head was heavy as if she had it her head with something. She then remembered her talk with Hera. She had a deal that she would reunite with her family, Willard was the last thing she expected.

'What am I doing here? Did you hit your head too hard?'

Ange looked around and saw that people were in a circle, staring at her in concern and whispering to each other about Ange's condition. Has Hera made a diversion to knock out this world's Ange, so she could enter her body? She has decided to along with it.

'What happened?' Ange asked Willard.

'I don't know.' he answered and at the same time helped Ange up. 'You suddenly collapsed, when you were talking about inviting me to your birthday.'

'My birthday?' blinked Ange.

'Yeah, your 18th birthday is this weekend, remember?' Willard reminded her. He tried not to make Ange feel stupid. One-by-one everyone around them have started to leave and go on with their lives, when they saw that everything was okay.

'My 18th birthday party..' Ange mummers so silently that even Willard couldn't heard what she said exactly. The age to becoming a woman and forgetting everything related to magic, she thought.

Seeing Ange being so silent all of a sudden made him worry a bit.

'Ange, are you sure you're feeling okay?' he suddenly asked, showing Ange his concern.

Ange smiled lightly and nodded. 'Shall we continue our walk, then?' Willard reached out his hand to her. Ange stared at him in confusion. What?, she asked herself in thought. Willard felt a bit uneasy, but tried not to complain.

'Why do we need to hold hands? We're just acquaintances, right?' Ange then added to not make any misunderstandings. Willard blinked.

'What's wrong?' Ange asked, when she saw that he was confused.

Willard bit his lip and looked to the left blushing. He made himself look as he was thinking, but he was really trying to hide his blush.

'Ange...' he said. 'We have been dating for a month now. Isn't holding hands normal between a couple?' He rubbed the back of his head like he really wanted to hold hands.

Ange's expression didn't change though. 'What?' she said looking at Willard. This world's Ange is dating Willard, but isn't he supposed to be with Lion. She looked at her hand and back at Willard. It wouldn't hurt if they held hands. This raised a bit questions about this world's Ange. In her past world, she never thought about anything else except her brother. Back then, she barely knew Willard and back in that world he was much more confident about almost everything. In this world, he's very tense and she could tell from his face that he's worried about if he said something to make me act like I'm delusional. Remembering her past made her decide to go along with it. If it was this Ange's choice, then she will live with it.

'Okay,' Ange smiled and took his hand. 'but you lead the way.' Willard couldn't help, but smile back and they headed towards, if Ange remembers well, her father's workplace.

'I already told you, I cannot get in touch with him. It's almost as if he just disappeared out of nowhere! In the middle of the greatest deal of our lifetime, too.' Rudolf was talking on his phone. The secretary told Willard and Ange to wait until the call is finished, 'cause it's very important.

'He really must have the guts to leave our business' without any notice at all,' Rudolf groaned and then finally noticed them waiting near the door. He let out a smile and continued his call. 'Okay, Hideyoshi, I have to go now, Ange came to see his daddy. Talk to you tonight.' He hung up the phone.

He sighed and shook his head. 'I know I shouldn't be yelling, worrying and being sad on my little girl's day of becoming an adult, but daddy's gotta do, what daddy's gotta do, right?' he smiled nervously.

'It's okay,' Ange smiled. 'I'm not upset in any way, so don't worry.'

'So, how are you guys doing?' He winked at Willard.

'Good.'

'How good?' he smirked widely.

Willard covered Ange's mouth before she could answered and answered instead. 'We haven't got on that stage yet, Mr Ushiromiya..' He smiled and Rudolf could tell that he was a bit nervous about that question. He decided to joke around with them a bit more.

'Well, hurry it up! I wanna see some of my daughter's babies before I die. I'm not getting younger, ya know.' he pouted.

Willard blushed, but Ange stayed the same. She didn't feel affection towards Willard. Though she wished that she knew how much and why did this world's Ange love Willard. And why is he so different from the Willard in her own world?

'So what is that you want, Chibi Ange?' Rudolf smiled while shuffling through some documents. Ange looked at Willard. He gave a sign to go on. She nodded and proceeded to ask 'Can I ask permission to have Willard at my Birthday?' Silence filled the room, before Rudolf bursted out laughing.

'Of course,' he said as he chuckled. 'he's your boyfriend, isn't he? Like the Spanish say, your cassa is our cassa, or whatever.' He stocked some papers into a pile and started to stamp them. 'If you'd want, we can even let him stay in the guest bedroom.'

'No, that's okay.'

'You sure?' Rudolf asked Willard. 'It's better late than never, kid.'

Willard said it's fine, because he has work the next day. 'Well, you snooze, you loose! I guess Ange will curl up into Battler's bed like, when she was a kid.'

Ange started blushing. It feels a bit embarrassing, but she doesn't know why. Later they talked about, how Ange kept holding onto Battler's leg, when he was about to go to school and how she fell asleep in his clothing drawer.

After hours of talking about how cute and fond of Battler Ange was, when she was little, Rudolf's watch started to beep. 'Oh, Battler should be here any minute.' He looked at the watch. '7 PM already? Hard to believe Ange had so many adventures in her lifetime!'

and more to come, added Ange in her thoughts. She felt really happy that she could talk with her father after so many years. She was lucky, that she learned more about this world's Ange.

'Your son is here, Mr Ushiromiya.' said the secretary, who seemed a bit cheerful than before. Trough the radio could be heard some kids laughing and both saying 'Grandpa Rudolf!'

'Oh, the sounds of those happy children,' said Rudolf before giving permission to come in.

'Hi, Dad.' Ange and Willard turned around to see Battler, in his 30's, standing at the door. Two kids rand from behind him and tackled Rudolf with gumdrop smiles on their faces. The boy had messy blonde hair and black eyes and the girl had had red hair and blue eyes. Looked a bit like Ange herself.

'You two have grown! What did I tell about growing up?' laughed Rudolf. 'Never grow up!' said the boy, trying to imitate Rudolf's serious side. Rudolf smirked and started to tickle him.

'Ah, Ange,' Battler noticed. 'Whatcha doin' at pa's?'

Ange couldn't help it. She quickly stood up and ran to tackle her brother to the ground. She hugged him very tightly as if she never wants to loose a sight of him again. She lost control of her body again and started crying. 'Niichan..' Battler stared at her in confusion. Willard and Rudolf stared, too. The kids even started wondering.

'What's wrong?' Battler asked, puzzled. Ange didn't answer, but cried on his shoulder. She's so happy to see her brother alive and well. 'Thank you, Hera,' she said silently.

Then a shadow covered her face. She looked up and saw elegantly dressed woman looking down at Battler and Ange. Ange rubbed her eyes and studied the woman's features. She's very similar to Beatrice.


	3. Unbelievable Family

Ange stared at Beatrice, refusing to believe her eyes. 'How?' she blinked. All that's not different from this Beatrice was that her expression was much more calm and she looked a bit older than the Endless witch she despised due to her small wrinkles. Her smile was calm, like a mother's smile, when she's happy to see her children get along well.

'Ange,' she smiled. 'missed your brother too much?' It wasn't a bossy tone, neither was it filled with anger. Battler stood up, also helping Ange up. He patted her head and proceeded to walk towards his father. Ange was still surprised. She needed time to believe her eyes. Does this mean, nii-chan and..Beatrice are married? But Beatrice doesn't really exist, she struggled to believe what's happening in her thoughts.

'What's up old man?' Battler grinned at his Father. Rudolf let out a light chuckle, not getting mad at being called old. 'Ah, nothing much,' he laughed. 'I was just sharing Ange's stories with her boyfriend.' he winked at Willard.

Battler took a look at him. He studied his appearance. He thought he was some kind of a rocker and a short-tempered guy by the first look. 'Are you into rock?' he asked him.

'I guess.' Willard replied with a shrug. 'But I rather be at peace most of the times.' He tried to be as polite as possible.

Battler blinked at his answer.

Beatrice stared at Ange, who was glaring at her and at the same time trying to cope with the surroundings. She walked pass her and greeted Rudolf with a warm smile. 'How are we today?' she asked. Rudolf started to rant about how Beatrice should call her 'Dad' instead of 'we' or 'you'. She was just too polite. At the same time Battler smiled through everything and at the same time taking care of the twins.

Willard noticed that Ange was still standing at the door, looking awfully lonely. He walked up to her and asked her what's wrong. 'Everything is wrong..' Ange replied silently while staring down at the floor. 'What?' Willard asked. 'What do you mean?'

Ange stayed silent. She could not tell her about her secret, not that he would believe every word she says to him, but still. It's not worth the risk.

'We'll be leaving,' Ange said loudly in a dark tone so everyone in this room could hear her. 'Start the feast before us, we will be out late.' She couldn't bare being around Beatrice. She didn't like her brother being married to her and worst yet, having children with her. Her seed is a seed of the devil. 'Okay.' said Rudolf, slightly confused. 'Just don't be out too late.'

Then they both left hand-in-hand, before everyone else could say their bye's. Ange hurried to get out of there as quick as possible. She passed the secrertary before she could say a word to them. When they were at the parking lot Willard suddenly stopped Ange and turned her around. 'We're moving any more centimetres before you tell what was that all about.' he asked her. His face was more serious than Ange has ever seen before. 'Why should you know? You won't understand my feelings at all.' she growled at him. 'I'll try to understand, then.' he added after Ange finished her sentence. 'No, you won't. No one will understand me unless they are me!' 'Try me. I'm up for a challenge.' 'Why can't you just accept the situation and go along with it?' 'I can't, because I'm worried about the relationships with your family!' 'Why would you be worried about that!' Ange raised her voice. 'Right after what happened to Maria, I have a reason to worry!' he yelled out loud. Ange's face froze as his eyes widened. A shiver went down her back bone. She pulled Willard closer and asked him 'What happened to Maria!' Willard glared, couldn't believe the words that have just come out of her mouth. She pushed her away. 'Why are you acting this way? She died. She died, because she always got bullied and no one did a thing to stop it.' Willard explain, trying to hide away the sorrow in his face by covering his face. He also felt guilt, because he has witnessed Rosa beating her. 'We all saw it, yet we did nothing!'

Ange carved his words into her mind. She pictured the day that Maria's ghost taught her magic and helped her solve her bullying problems at school. Yet, in this world, it was too late to save her. She looked down as tears flew down her cheeks. She couldn't endure it. She felt that her feelings once again took over. Why has it been so hard to control them, lately? When Willard saw her crying, he immediately pulled her against his chest and tried to comfort her. He feels awful making her cry. He kissed her forehead and whispered 'I'm sorry.' Ange gripped his shirt, so he wouldn't let go. By the time she stopped crying, it was nearly 9 PM.


	4. Willard H Wright

Ange and Willard were sitting on a bench at a nearby park. Ange was cleaning her face with a handkerchief and Willard was just waiting and feeling the air blow trough him. He stared at the moon, while thinking through what has happened. He felt as if he screwed up by bringing that up. So he sighed. "I'm Sorry," he said silently. Ange looked up and looked at Willard, giving him her response "No worries. It's not your fault. I just always loose control in my emotions, sometimes." Ange tried to let out a slight smile to Willard to show him that she's actually okay. Willard could see the fake smile right through her, but stayed silent. He looked back at the moon and couldn't resist himself anymore and put his hand over Ange's shoulders. He now realized that it was the right thing to do since it shows that he's always there for her, to protect her from anything. Ange looked timidly at his hand. She could tell very well that Willard really likes this world's Ange. Silence broke in between the two lovers. Or by the lover and the stranger. Willard was struggling to think up a way to start a decent conversation, while Ange was thinking about Beatrice and Battler's family. She bit her lower lip so hard with anger that it started to bleed. She licked the blood away before Willard could notice. This isn't what she expected, this isn't what she hoped for. Then her thoughts went to thinking about this world's Ange and Willard. Willard was a detective in her world, but who is he here. He gazed at him. He was still looking at the moon, deeply lost in his thoughts. "Willard," Ange asked. Willard peeked at him slightly. "what do you do for living?" Willard stayed silent. Ange could tell that he frowned his eyebrows a bit. That meant, he doesn't want to talk about. But Ange won't take nothing for an answer and repeated the question. Willard hesitated a bit before speaking "I'm a detective-in-training." 'This world's Willard was the same, so it seems.' ange considered. Then it hit her. Her eyes widened to the thought. Back then, when the Rokkenjima incident happened, Willard looked the same age as he does now. "Impossible." Ange gasped silently. "What's impossible?" Willard asked in confusion. Ange, quickly as lightning, stood up instantly. "Who are you?" She yelled at Willard, threatening him with pepper spray she discovered in her pocket. Willard blinked. "You are not Willard H. Wright! You look the same age as you did 12 years ago! This is impossible to look this youthful for so many years!"

Willard stayed silent and then her mouth evolved into a smirk. He started laughing. Laughing at Ange for just now figuring everything out. Slowly the laugh turned maniacal, which made Ange shudder and quiver. Then he suddenly stopped laughing and turned to face Ange. "You really thought you could escape your pain by killing yourself and making a deal with a Goddess? You must be dumber than you look!" Willard said as he grinned widely. Ange shook his head, refusing to believe what is happening now. Willard stood up and started to walk towards Ange with a devilish laugh. No people were around and there was nowhere to run. "Ah, screw this!" Ange yelled out as he sprayed pepper spray on to his face and ran as fast as she could. I guess, there was a place to run. She could hear Imposter-Willard screaming in pain for a couple minutes, then he regained his sight and started to run after Ange. She could hear it, she could smell it, she could feel it. "Damnit!" Ange said repeatedly, when running, because she knows that he's gaining upon her. She couldn't run very fast, because her shoes were very uncomfortable. Ange looked forward again and saw that she was running to a cliff. The same cliff, where she tried to commit suicide in her world. She didn't try to stop. Death would be the only option, when trying to get away from that 'thing'. She ran faster and by the time she reached the cliff, she was pulled back by the imposter. He pulled Ange close to his face and asked "Chickadee witch, chickadee witch, where do you think you're going chickadee witch?" Ange spat at his face in disgust of his attitude. "I'll take that as nowhere," he growled as he wiped off the spit. Then he grabbed her by the throat and started choking her. Ange was gasping for air. "Who...are..you?" Ange let out with every breath she could let out. "I'm Willard H. Wright and at the same time I'm not." he responded. "Liar." "I guess I deserved that, but is that all you will add to your last words?" Ange stayed silent and closed her eyes. She searched for the affection this world's Ange felt for the imposter Willard. She figured that the imposter was both Willard and not Willard, that meant, the imposter entered his body 12 years ago. That explains his youth. She reopened her eyes. This time she didn't look at Willard with frustration, but with eyes that a girl has, when seeing their loved one using violence on her. Her eyes begged him to let go. The imposter kept strangling. "Already left the cocoon, Ange?" He laughed. Ange pleaded for help with a low whisper. She heard a thump, thump, thump. Someone's heart beating very fast, as if it was filled with anger. Willard's eyes widened as he let loose of his arm. Ange fell on her bottom on the ground and lied there in pain. Near death experience is such an horrible thing to experience. She coughed for air. Willard went backwards and held his head straight while yelling "F***! Stay there you c***! Your soul is mine and dead! Goddammit!" Then he let out a monstrous roar of pain and anger. He then fell on his knees, gasping for air. The imposter has left his body, finally. At last. Willard was gasping heavily. "Damn.. Demons..." Ange stared at the edge of the cliff. She felt her eyelids getting heavy again. This has made her dizzy and sleepy. So, she decided to take a nap. Not caring, what has happened. Rest is something everybody needs. End of discussion.


	5. Revelation

Ange woke up after taking a small rest of what had happened in a short time ever since she made a deal with Hera. The first thing she saw, when she woke up was that she was still outside, so that meant she only slept for a little while. Willard was carrying her, possibly to her home.

"I see you're finally awake." Willard noticed. "You okay?" Ange responded with a nod.

"What- I mean, who was that evil inside you?" she asked, but refusing to look Willard into his eyes. Her body felt too tired to do that. Her mouth barely could speak on her command.

"It was Bernkastel's piece." he answered. When he answered that question silently and with hesitation. "She ordered it to take control of me and try to seduce this game's Ange, so she could information from the opposite team."

Ange's eyes widened to the word "game". She looked up to Willard. "What do you mean by GAME?" Willard sighed. "This has been going on for years now. 12 to be exact. The witches trapped me in this parallel universe after I almost cracked the whole Rokkenjima case. Turns out I got too close to intoxication of the whole witch world. So, I became trapped here. The universe where the massacre never happened. But it seems that you made a deal with the organizer – Hera."

Ange felt uneasy and deceived. Hera had lied to her and when someone lies to her, she can never forgive him or her. But there must be a reason she wanted to give Ange a chance at life here. A perfect reason.

"Can you put me down, please?" she asked Willard. He did as he was commanded. "could you tell me the whole story? Of what has happened and what's about to happen?"

Willard nodded and started to explain: "This was prepared for about 12 years now. Ever since this world's Ange became 6 years old. At that time Maria learned magic by a old book Kinzo gave her before he died. This world's Rosa is busy the same way the Rosa in your universe. Maria one day felt so lonely that she looked up a spell to create a witch – that's how Bernkastel was born here. She was created by Maria. At first, she was like a doll. Barely spoke, barely moved, but Maria taught her lots of things. Few years after that, Bernkastel got smarter and more evil – that was because the spell Maria used was from a Book full of Dark magic. It killed her."

"Maria's dead here?" Ange's eyes widened and she started to shake, but refused to cry. Willard shook his head.

"Her body is dead, but her soul is alive." he explained and continued to tell the story. "After Bernkastel killed Maria, she received all the magic Maria had in her and became very strong. As strong as herself in your world and Beatrice combined. She went into the universe with no path and met Hera. I don't know what they did there, but what happened between them started this endless game. Bernkastel became a player of this game, opponent to Hera, controlling the pieces. While Hera herself controls this world's Ange. Her task is to find out, who murdered-"

He stopped for a second and continued. "I can't tell you right now, you'll find out soon enough. You have 24 hours to figure out, or you will be butchered by the witches and have to play the game again. This world's Ange has failed multiple times and I have enough. I think Hera has enough, too. Maybe she taught you are more experienced in this and invited you here. You could bring an end to this. That's all I know right now. The demon, who helps Bernkastel control people in this world, barely let's me see what's happening, but this is all I know. I hope this helped."

Ange smiled at Willard. "I thank you for telling me," she thanked him. "I really appreciate it."

Willard shrugged. "You deserve to know after helping me defeat the demon. I can finally be myself after those years of imprisonment." He then looked at his watch, what he thankfully owned, then back at Ange. "I think it's time to go, it's getting rather late."

"I think so too," Ange nodded and stood up. "but first I'd like to have a little discussion with Hera." As soon as she spoke out those words, the world around her turned to gray and Hera appeared in front of her.

"What is it, child?" The Great voice asked.


End file.
